Apparatus and a Method for a Garment to Identify Excrements

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for a garment to identify excrements includes a one-piece body garment and a slit. The slit is positioned on a back section of the one-piece body garment adjacent to the buttocks area, and provides access into the one-piece body garment. The slit includes a first welt and a second welt, where the first welt and the second welt are connected to each other in such way that the first welt is positioned atop the second welt. A responsible adult can separate the first welt and the second welt in order to access the diaper within so that the diaper can be checked by the responsible adult for any kind of excrements.

The current application claims a priority to the U.S. Provisional Patent application Ser. No. 61/724,150 filed on Nov. 8, 2012.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to an apparatus and method for a garment. More specifically, the present invention is an apparatus and a method for a garment that comprises an opening that is strategically located to allow an individual to examine and check down a wearer's backside.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Younger children, babies, and disabled adults typically require wearing diapers in case of a bowel movement. Oftentimes, when the child, baby, or disabled adult may be thought to have had a bowel movement, the responsible caretaker will have to completely undress the child, baby, or the disabled adult from the waist down to check to see if a diaper change is required. This process is tedious, time consuming, and invasive. When the child, baby, or disabled adult is wearing a one-piece body garment (bodysuit) that is normally worn under an outer layer of garments, the responsible caretaker is required to remove the lower outer layer of garment and to adjust the one-piece body garment in order to check for the bowel movement. Otherwise, he or she has to wait for any kind of bad odor to detect the bowel movement, which may not occur. Excrements that are left within the diaper can cause discomfort and diaper rash, and, thus, it is important to quickly identify excrements within the diaper.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to introduce an apparatus and method for a one-piece body garment that comprises an opening that is strategically located on the back side of the one-piece garment so that the responsible individual can examine and check down either the child's backside, baby's backside or the disabled adult's backside. Since the present invention provides visual confirmation about any bowel movement through the opening, the responsible individual can efficiently change the diapers only if a diaper change is required. The visual confirmation of the bowel movement that is provided through the present invention can be beneficial for caregivers, but particularly for those who have permanent or temporary smell disorders. The present invention is also beneficial to caregivers when a bowel movement does not have an odor or is masked by another scent. In addition, the present invention is also beneficial to the caregiver when there are multiple diaper wearer's within the same vicinity.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein the crotch opening is closed.

FIG. 2 is a front view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein the crotch opening is opened.

FIG. 3 is a back view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, showing the slit.

FIG. 4 is a back view of the preferred embodiment of the present invention, wherein the slit is opened.

FIG. 5 is basic flowchart illustrating the overall method of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a back perspective view of the present invention showing the slit, wherein the present invention is worn by a child.

FIG. 7 is a back perspective view of the present invention showing the open slit and the inside of the diaper, wherein the present invention is worn by a child.

DETAIL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE INVENTION

All illustrations of the drawings are for the purpose of describing selected versions of the present invention and are not intended to limit the scope of the present invention.

The present invention is an apparatus and a method for a garment that comprises an opening that is strategically located to allow a responsible caregiver to examine and check down an individual's backside to identify whether or not there are excrements within the diaper. The present invention comprises a one-piece body garment 1 and a slit 11 that allows the caregiver to look down into the back of the diaper of a baby or a disabled adult who is wearing the one-piece body garment 1 to see if she/he has had a bowel movement without having to undress the baby or the disabled adult. The slit 11 is far less intrusive and much faster than having to lie the baby or the disabled adult down, remove his/her pants, lift up his/her legs and reach into the leg opening of the diaper, and pull it open to see if there is any bowel movement.

In reference to FIG. 1, the one-piece body garment 1 of the present invention can be any garment with any material that covers at least the shoulders and torso, where the one-piece body garment 1 opens and closes under the crotch or along the sagittal plane of the body. The present invention can be made of any suitable fabric but is preferably made of a cotton material. Even though the one-piece body garment 1 is typically a crotch-snapped onesie, the one-piece body garment 1 can alternatively be a tee shirt, romper, overalls, jumpsuit, sun-suit, undershirt, or pajamas.

In reference to FIG. 1, FIG. 2, and FIG. 3, the one-piece body garment 1 comprises a left arm sleeve 2, a right arm sleeve 3, a neck opening 7, and a torso portion 4. The left arm sleeve 2 traverses into the torso portion 4, and the right arm sleeve 3 traverses into the torso portion 4 opposite from the left arm sleeve 2. The left arm sleeve 2 and the right arm sleeve 3 respectively enclose the left arm and the right arm of the person, where the left arm sleeve 2 and the right arm sleeve 3 can be either short sleeve or long sleeve. The neck opening 7 traverses into the torso portion 4 in such way that the neck opening 7 is positioned in between the left arm sleeve 2 and the right arm sleeve 3. The neck opening 7 creates cavity for the person's neck so that the person's head can be inserted through the neck opening 7. The torso portion 4 encloses the person's torso, where the torso portion 4 comprises a back section 6, a front section 5, a crotch opening 8, a tapered flap section 9, and a plurality of fasteners 10. The back section 6 and the front section 5 are oppositely positioned from each other in such way that the back section 6 is adjacently positioned with the person's back side, and the front section 5 is adjacently positioned with the person's front side. The crotch opening 8 is positioned on the torso portion 4 opposite from the neck opening 7. The crotch opening 8 provides an opening for the one-piece body garment 1, so that the one-piece body garment 1 can cover the person's whole body through the crotch opening 8. The tapered flap section 9 is positioned on the back section 6, and the tapered flap section 9 is removably attached to the front section 5 by the plurality of fasteners 10. The tapered flap section 9 and the plurality of fasteners 10 control the crotch opening 8 of the present invention. In reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, when the tapered flap is removably attached to the front section 5 through the plurality of fasteners 10, the tapered flap section 9 closes the crotch opening 8 of the present invention. When the tapered flap is detached from the front section 5 through the plurality of fasteners 10, the tapered flap section 9 opens the crotch opening 8 of the present invention.

In reference to FIG. 3, and FIG. 4, the slit 11 is positioned on the back section 6 parallel to the sagittal plane, where the slit 11 is positioned in between and below the left arm sleeve 2 and the right arm sleeve 3. Since the slit 11 is positioned parallel to the sagittal plane, the slit 11 does not opens when the person is either standing up or bending over as the slit 11 stretches across the person's back side. The slit 11 comprises a first welt 12 and a second welt 13, and the first welt 12 and the second welt 13 are adjacently connected to each other in such way that the first welt 12 is positioned atop the second welt 13. The first welt 12 and the second welt 13 further strengthen the slit 11 and provide a cleaner finish for the slit 11. The slit 11 can outwardly direct toward either the left arm sleeve 2 or the right arm sleeve 3. More specifically, the slit 11 may outwardly direct toward the left arm sleeve 2 so that the slit 11 can be opened from the left side for the left-handed caregivers. The slit 11 may outwardly direct toward the right arm sleeve 3 so that the slit 11 can be opened from the right side for the right-handed caregivers. Since the first welt 12 and the second welt 13 don't use a lot of fabric materials from the one-piece body garment 1, the slit 11 can be efficiently hidden under an outer layer of clothing without creating any discomforted for the baby or the disabled adult.

In reference to FIG. 5, FIG. 6, and FIG. 7, the method of identify excrements within the present invention requires a human body, which can be the baby or the disabled adult, with a diaper, where the diaper is covered by the one-piece body garment 1, and the slit 11 is positioned adjacent to the back side of the human body. The caregiver first needs to locate the slit 11 of the one-piece body garment 1 since the slit 11 can be underneath an outer layer of clothing articles. Once the slit 11 is located, the first welt 12 and the second welt 13 of the slit 11 are separated by the caregiver's fingers in order to locate the diaper within the one-piece body garment 1. The vertically oriented slit 11 with respect to the sagittal plane provides easy access into the slit 11 so that the caregiver is easily able to locate the diaper. For example, the caregiver can carry out this step even when the baby or the disabled adult is sitting or sleeping. Then the diaper can be stretched away from the human body so that the caregiver can look into the buttocks of the human body. This allows the caregiver to easily identify excrements within the diaper if the excrements are discharged from the human body. If the excrements are present within the diaper, the caregiver can release the diaper and the slit 11 so that the necessary steps can be carried out to change the diaper of the human body. If the excrements are not present within the diaper, the caregiver can release the diaper and the slit 11, but does not have to change the diaper.

The present invention is made into different sizes so that different age groups can be accommodated. Depending of the different sizes of the present invention, the size of the slit 11 can also differ. For example, the one-piece body garment 1 that accommodates the age group of 6-12 months comprises a smaller slit 11 compare to the one-piece body garment 1 that accommodates the age group of 12-18, which comprises a larger slit 11.

Although the invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for a garment to identify excrements comprises: a one-piece body garment; a slit; the one-piece body garment comprises a left arm sleeve, a right arm sleeve, a neck opening, and a torso portion; the torso portion comprises a back section and a front section; the left arm sleeve traversing into the torso portion; the right arm sleeve traversing into the torso portion opposite from the left arm sleeve; the neck opening traversing into the torso portion; the neck opening being positioned in between the left arm sleeve and the right arm sleeve; the slit being positioned on the back section parallel to the sagittal plane; and the slit being positioned in between and below the left arm sleeve and the right arm sleeve.
 2. The apparatus for a garment to identify excrements as claimed in claim 1 comprises: the torso portion further comprises a crotch opening, a tapered flap section, and a plurality of fasteners; the back section and the front section being oppositely positioned from each other; the crotch opening being positioned on the torso portion opposite from the neck opening; the tapered flap section being positioned on the back section; the tapered flap section being adjacently positioned with the crotch opening; and the tapered flap section being removably attached to the front section by the plurality of fasteners.
 3. The apparatus for a garment to identify excrements as claimed in claim 1 comprises: the slit being outwardly directed toward the left arm sleeve.
 4. The apparatus for a garment to identify excrements as claimed in claim 1 comprises: the slit being outwardly directed toward the right arm sleeve.
 5. The apparatus for a garment to identify excrements as claimed in claim 1 comprises: the slit comprises a first welt and second welt; the first welt and the second welt being adjacently connected to each other; and the first welt being positioned atop the second welt.
 6. A method to identify excrements comprises the steps of: providing a human body with a diaper; providing a one-piece body garment with a slit, wherein the one-piece body garment is worn by the human body over the diaper; locating the slit of the one-piece body garment, wherein the slit comprises a first welt and a second welt; separating the first welt and the second welt in order to locate the diaper; stretching the diaper away from the human body in order to look into the buttocks of the human body; and visually identifying excrements within the diaper, if the excrements are discharged from the human body.
 7. An apparatus for a garment to identify excrements comprises: a one-piece body garment; a slit; the one-piece body garment comprises a left arm sleeve, a right arm sleeve, a neck opening, and a torso portion; the torso portion comprises a back section and a front section; the left arm sleeve traversing into the torso portion; the right arm sleeve traversing into the torso portion opposite from the left arm sleeve; the neck opening traversing into the torso portion; the neck opening being positioned in between the left arm sleeve and the right arm sleeve; the slit being positioned on the back section parallel to the sagittal plane; the slit being positioned in between and below the left arm sleeve and the right arm sleeve; the slit comprises a first welt and second welt; the first welt and the second welt being adjacently connected to each other; and the first welt being positioned atop the second welt.
 8. The apparatus for a garment to identify excrements as claimed in claim 7 comprises: the torso portion further comprises a crotch opening, a tapered flap section, and a plurality of fasteners; the back section and the front section being oppositely positioned from each other; the crotch opening being positioned on the torso portion opposite from the neck opening; the tapered flap section being positioned on the back section; the tapered flap section being adjacently positioned with the crotch opening; and the tapered flap section being removably attached to the front section by the plurality of fasteners.
 9. The apparatus for a garment to identify excrements as claimed in claim 7 comprises: the slit being outwardly directed toward the left arm sleeve.
 10. The apparatus for a garment to identify excrements as claimed in claim 7 comprises: the slit being outwardly directed toward the right arm sleeve. 